Chapter 2: The Return of Captain Grimalken

Not long after the ceremony of unmasking did the Aquian Mothership return to Megakat City, making its landing at the same beach it did before.1 This gave some citizens and the lifeguard on duty that Mutilor was back, but sighs of relief insured when several Enforcers, including Ulysses, Lt. Felina Feral, and the Sergeant, arrived on the scene. More signs ensured when memories were trigged thanks to Felina's help that the blue-furred tribe of Aquians were naturally nonviolent and peaceful.

There was one little difference, however: Mutilor's death had an effect on Captain Grimalken, the leader of the Aquians. No longer did he sound elderly. His youth had been restored to him (although his face did not change) by means of Mutilor's accidental firing of his anti-aging ray gun that he intended to use on himself, since he was almost 900 years old. Grimalken now felt energized and ready to rock-and-roll (since his newly regained British accent gave him the voice of a rock star).

When the ship landed, everyone braced themselves for the impact it had on the water. The ship soon made its way over to the shoreline where the doors soon opened, a ramp descended, and Grimalken emerged, dressed in rock star clothing and wearing sunglasses. Everyone clapped quietly and resumed their business afterwards as Grimalken made his way over to where Ulysses, Felina, and the Sergeant were standing. Another Aquian helped bring out his electric guitar and amplifier before boarding the ship again. Everyone waved goodbye as the ship launched itself back into space.

"Ah, look," Felina exclaimed with a smile on her face. "If it isn't the peaceful Aquian leader."

"Nice to see you again," Grimalken replied, shaking her hand. "My tribe and I have come here to make peace with you all after the Mutilor incident as proof that we had nothing to do with it. If it was not for you and your two warrior friends, we never would have been released from the cell Mutilor was holding us prisoner in."

"I'm just happy to see you are okay," Ulysses added. "If you're wondering, she's my niece. I'm Commander Ulysses Feral, and this is my Sergeant."

"Pleasure," said the Sergeant, tipping his hat.

"I'm pleased to make your acquaintance as well," said Grimalken. "If you'll look to your left, you'll see that the ship is taking off now, since Mutilor did force me to flee my tribe. This was due to my anti-aging."

"Why would you have to flee your own tribe?"

"They were afraid I'd promote violence. After hearing about how I kicked that one henchman in the head to protect the ship, they elected a new leader unbeknownst to me until now. Despite this terrible wrong that I have committed, they found time to thank me for my deeds, and vice-versa. Now I have officially been excommunicated by Aquian laws, and I have nowhere to go but this crazy town. This is actually a blessing in disguise, since I find this place much more exciting."

"I'm glad to hear that. After all, great heroes don't grow on trees."

"What do you mean by that?"

"It was a figure of speech. Actually, the SWAT Kats informed me of you, since they found out you were coming while on air patrol."

"Oh, you mean those two warriors?"

"Yes. In fact, we'll take you there right now." Ulysses was soon driving Grimalken over to where the salvage yard was, explaining everything that happened. Grimalken promised to keep the secret a secret as well, saying, "Do not worry; my lips are sealed with a seal of approval."

"Any other news to report on whom to tell, Sergeant?" Ulysses asked.

"Nope," replied the Sergeant. "Everyone is secured. There is one extra, however."

"Who's that?"

"Fango. He listened in on the conversation."

"Why would he want to do that?"

"Don't know. He still sometimes engages in those criminal habits from his smuggling days. One of those habits is eavesdropping. I had to add him to the list as an emergency procedure."

"Oh, I see. Well, Fango is someone I can trust. He may have been a criminal, but at least he was honest when I questioned him. Now that all charges against him have been dropped, I had him somewhat doing work for me in case we needed a secret agent."

"When was that?"

"Since last November." Ulysses pulled up in the parking lot to the salvage yard, where Ann, Jonny, and Al had just finished doing more broadcasting on both Grimalken's story (since they covered it as it was happening) and asking the SWAT Kats more questions. Ulysses could hear their conversation.

"Wow. Pretty freaky, ain't it?" Al commented in his new Texan-voice habits.

"You said it, cowboy," replied Jonny. "First the Commander surrenders. Now the return of this now-young-again Aquian leader."

"I must say," said Ann, "this is the most exciting thing that has happened to me since I last covered that boring Mayor Manx Invitational Golf Tournament that the mayor himself won. How stupid is that?"

"Very stupid." Jonny perked up at the sight of Ulysses's approaching police squad car. "Uh-oh!" he exclaimed. "We got company."

"It's probably Grimalken," Al spoke up.

"I think you're right, Al," said Ann. "Let's go to a close-up on this one." The three made their way over towards the squad car only to realize Al's instincts were correct. (Needless to say, to mark the occasion of celebrating his ancestors, Al was wearing a cowboy hat and outfit, explaining why Jonny called him a cowboy. He was even armed with two revolvers, though they weren't loaded. Jonny, however, was still wearing his signature red baseball cap, purple sweater, mirror sunglasses, blue jeans, and boots, and Ann was still in her usual dress clothes.)

"Well, here is it, sir. My salvage yard," Ulysses announced when he and Grimalken got out of the car. Felina and the Sergeant quickly followed suit.

"Are you sure you own this place?" Grimalken asked in his skeptical habits. "The sign doesn't have your name on it."

"Trust me, it is."

"I hate it when he says that!" Felina winced.

"Okay, I'll take your word for it, but forgive me; I do have a tendency to be skeptical."

"Oh, I forgive you, no doubt about it." Ulysses turned towards the Kat's Eye News Three (as they were collectively known by the public) and asked in confusion, "What are you guys doing here?"

"We were gathering more information for our sub newscaster in the studio tonight, since I have the night off," Ann explained. "They answered all our questions and even offered to take us to a restaurant for lunch. They saw you coming and invited you as well."

"Well, tell them we accept, will you, Al?" Ulysses replied.

"You got it, partner!" Al replied, running off to give Jake and Chance the news. When he returned, Jake and Chance came with them, albeit not in their usual uniforms. (Jake was wearing a black sleeveless tank top and Chance had a white one; both wore army pants and boots.)

"Sorry we're not in our usual clothes," Jake began. "We were running on the obstacle course. At least this time Chance didn't drown, since he can't swim."2

"Is that a fact?" the Sergeant replied in shock.

"Yes, it is," Chance replied, "but don't make a big deal out of it."

"Why didn't you ever tell me?" asked Jake.

"You never asked!"

"Hey, no sweat. I'll teach you to swim."

"Don't bother, Jake. Fish swim. I fly!" Chance snarled.

"That's what he said the last time I asked that!" Jake exclaimed to no one in particular. "Why did I go through that routine again?"

"Well, we came here to reunite you two with an old friend who's not-so-old anymore," Ulysses announced as Grimalken stepped forward. "He was also informed and has sworn to secrecy."

Removing his sunglasses, Grimalken asked, "Do you two remember me? You helped me fight Mutilor."

"That's right, we did," Chance replied. "What happened to you?"

Quickly Grimalken told the whole story behind his tribe excommunicating him although applauding him in the process for his heroic and brave deed of violence towards being able to stop the henchman from going for a blaster. Then he asked, "Do you two still fight like that?"

"Yes, we do," Jake answered quietly. "We're still the SWAT Kats. He's T-Bone, and I'm Razor."

"Yes, I thought so. I just hope it does not get crazy enough with the citizens that I will have to move to the United Kingdom just because of my accent. Somehow I acquired somewhat of a British accent, probably of Glasgow dialect."

"They'll understand," Ulysses assured him. "The citizens saw you on live TV anyway. Such a devoted news crew and metropolitan amount of citizens!"

"Top of the line, three years running!" Al replied. "And we're still going strong."

"Why the cowboy outfit?" Felina asked.

"I wear cowboy clothes in remembrance of my ancestors who were cowboys, which explains why I started talking like a Texan. I even carry two guns." Al paused to draw and show his gun handling skills. "Don't worry; they ain't loaded."

"I didn't think so," said the Sergeant after Al withdrew his two guns. "And to think I only carry one gun, and it isn't even a revolver. Then again, who uses those anymore anyway?"

Everyone got into their respective vehicles (with Grimalken again riding in the police car) and headed to the steakhouse Chance had selected to eat. When they got there, the mayor and Callie were waiting for them, since Callie had paged and asked to join them, and Jake and Chance said yes. As soon as Grimalken had exited the squad car, the mayor exclaimed in delight, "Ah, yes! Captain Grimalken! The greatest peace-lover in the whole city!"

"He's just excited to see you again," said Callie.

"Yes, I can see that," said Grimalken. "You must be his deputy."

"I am, and I must say I've been busy," Callie replied. Then she leaned over and whispered in Grimalken's ear, "To tell the truth, Manx hasn't done an ounce of paperwork in years!"

"Whoa. You certainly have your hands full. Does the public know of this?"

"No, but it's better that way."

"I see." Grimalken turned back to his newfound friends and said, "Well, let's eat. I'm starving."

"Good idea," said the Sergeant, and they all walked in to eat. The employees reserved a circular table for the large group, although taking into account multiple tickets. Jake and Chance shared a ticket while the rest had separate tickets, though Ulysses graciously agreed to pay for Grimalken when informing the server of the orders while drinks were being taken.

Though the table normally only seated eight, two extra seats were made room for when Fango and Lenny Ringtail entered. Lenny, now sane again, had been working for the Enforcers as a police detective and did secret agent work when Hard Drive or Fango was unavailable. Lenny was wearing his police uniform (though without the hat) and Fango wore a green marching band uniform (unlike humans, cats, especially in Megakat City, wear band uniforms on a regular basis to signify their love of music, and Fango was no exception).

"Fango! Ringtail! What a pleasant surprise!" Ulysses exclaimed.

"How crazy seeing you guys here!" Fango echoed.

"Same here," echoed Lenny.

"So what brings you two here?" asked Jake.

"We just happened to run into each other here, that's all. Then the employees recognized us and decided to add us to your party of eight, for a party of ten."

"I see," said Jake. "I take it you remember Captain Grimalken?"

"He does. I don't," Lenny confessed. "This is the first time I've seen him in person, and what a pleasure it is." He and Grimalken shook hands.

"Glad to see you, too," Grimalken replied. "Are you the comedian-turned-asylum patient-turned-detective?"

"Yes, that's me. You forgot the part where Madkat inherited my soul, well, sort of. He was using me as a puppet."3

"I meant to ask you about that," Ulysses put in. "What motivated you to steal it? And does Katzmer have it back by now?"

"Yes, Katzmer has it back. The fact that the box had a jester with my face on it was the most eye-catching part. Now that I look back at it, history has repeated itself. If I competed with David Litterbin and lost, and the jester that was an ancestor of me competed with another jester and lost and went insane like I did, then the winning jester must be an ancestor of David."

"That's a logical conclusion. Have you confirmed it to be true yet?"

"No, but I have to assume it is true."

"I see. Are you positive about Madkat being sent to hell?"

"That has been confirmed to be true after Katzmer did a thorough investigation of the jack-in-the-box I returned to him."

"Okay. What did Katzmer ask from you for stealing it?"

"Nothing. He claimed it was a case of me not being guilty by reason of insanity. I do know for a fact that some others who tried to use this method of defense have failed depending on the crime, but in my case, it had to be forgiven, because I had no choice; Madkat just sucked me right in."

"I'm just making sure so that I don't press any charges on you."

"Okay, good." The conversation continued throughout the meal. All in all, everyone was happy to see that Grimalken was enjoying his new life and was ready to move into a new home with help from his peers.

1 The same ship was stolen by Mutilor in the episode "When Mutilor Strikes" for water-stealing purposes.

2 See the episode "Mutation City" for more information.

3 When Ringtail stole Katzmer's jack-in-the-box in the episode "Enter the Madkat."